


plan bb

by demistories



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Goofing Around, Operation Get Marinette and Adrien Together, and trying to get friends together, mlflufffiction, rated for language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-13
Updated: 2016-11-13
Packaged: 2018-08-30 11:16:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 23
Words: 13,641
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8530930
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/demistories/pseuds/demistories
Summary: “The fourth meeting of ‘Get Adrien and Marinette Together Before We Die Goddammit’ is now in session.” 
  Marinette and Adrien aren't dating and everyone is frustrated.





	1. meeting in session

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Plan M](https://archiveofourown.org/works/2522525) by [captainskellington](https://archiveofourown.org/users/captainskellington/pseuds/captainskellington). 



> a little something i wrote inspired by a tumblr ask :) 
> 
> for mlflufffiction, which you should totally check the tag for on tumblr because everything is super cute!!!
> 
> shoutout the mlfanfiction fam for helping me out. you're all the best <3
> 
> enjoy~

Alya shuts the door with her foot, dumping her bag on the the desk. “Alright, let’s do this people.”

Kim raises a sandwich in the air, chiming in with “Here here!”

Chloé rolls her eyes and goes back to filing her nails.

“Did you really need your laptop for this?” Nino asks, joining Alya on her bench.

“Yes,” she says seriously. “I have documents and color coding. Do not doubt my abilities.” She pulls everything up on her computer before standing up on the top of the desk.

Alix bangs her water bottle against a desk on Alya’s cue.

“The fourth meeting of ‘Get Adrien and Marinette Together Before We Die Goddammit’ is now in session.”

Chloé scoffs. “ _This_ is ridiculous. The fact that we’ve had _four meetings_ is ridiculous. I say we give up,” she says with a shrug. “It’s taking up too much time.”

“And desperately needed brain cells,” Kim whispers to Alix.

Alix snickers as Chloé gives Kim the middle finger.

“We don’t even meet every week,” Mylène points out.

“We don’t even meet every _other_ week,” Juleka mutters. “Just whenever Alya has an idea.”

“And only during lunch,” Nino adds motioning to his bag of chips.

“An idea!” Rose rests her chin in her hands. “Oooooo, Alya do tell!”

Nathanael joins Sabrina and sits on top of a desk. “But what are the chances of it actually working?”

Everyone looks back to Max.

He adjusts his glasses. “Probably higher than when we were leaving them to their own devices.”

“So…” Nino drawls.

Max shrugs. “More than zero.”

Alya claps her hands together. “Good enough for me.” She jumps down from the desk and starts pacing. “Ideas?”

Slowly, all heads turn to Chloé. Surprisingly, she’s often the one to offer up the most ideas.

She scowls and puts down her nail file. “Listen, I don’t spend _all_ my time watching rom coms. You have to look to Rose for that. I’m out of cliches, just lock them in the fucking closet again, why do I care?”

“I still say the closet worked,” Mylène says.

Ivan nods in agreement.

“Yeaahhhh,” Alix says with a smirk. “Cause we have no _idea_ what went on in there.” She wiggles her eyebrows suggestively.

“Oh my god.” Nino twists around and throws a chip at her.

She easily catches it in her mouth, telling him to go fuck himself as she chews.

“Can I leave?” Nathanael asks.

“Bring me with you,” Chloé demands.

“No one is leaving,” Alya says firmly. “You all came out of your own free will and we’re going to stay here until lunch break ends. No one is _required_ to be here, you all _wanted_ to be here.” Chloé opens her mouth and Alya points at her. “Say another word and you’ll regret it, blondie. Now. Ideas.”

“What have we already done?” Juleka asks. “It’s just been…”

“ _Forever_ ,” Kim says dramatically.

Alya nods to Nino. “Babe?”

“Plan A was ‘tell them to just ask each other out already’,” Nino reads.

Alix scoffs. “Who the fuck had that idea?”

“To be fair,” Nino says quickly, “that was before Al and I got anyone else involved. We put it down because we honestly didn’t know where to start.”

“Can I see that?” Max asks.

Nino lifts Alya’s laptop so the rest of the room can see.

Rose tilts her head. “Is that…color coded?”

“It is. It’s very important.” Alya walks up to the chalkboard. “So we failed on the straightforward method because _neither would do it_. What was Plan B?”

Sabrina squints at the computer screen. “That was getting them to work together on a project.”   
Alya taps her finger against her lip. “Check my date. Was that before or after the Gamer.”

Max shrinks backwards in his seat.

“…after,” Nino says slowly. “A little bit before we asked everyone for help because we were getting frustrated. I think might’ve been after Volpina, actually.”

Kim let out a whistle. “It took you that long to realize the two need some help?”

Alya shrugs. “I had faith. Then the faith ran out.”

“How did Plan B work anyway?” Nathanael asks.

Alya and Nino exchange a look.


	2. plan b: buckle up it’s group project time

**Plan B: Buckle Up It’s Group Project Time**

“I assume you’re working with Marinette?” Miss Bustier asks Alya.

Alya glances to the empty seat next to her, ready to agree, when she notices Adrien’s not here yet either. The wheels in her brain start spinning double time.

Perfect.

“Nino and I were actually going to work together this time, if that’s okay,” she says.

Nino turns around and gives her a confused look.

Alya just smiles at him.

Miss Bustier blinks in surprise. “Yes, that’s fine.” She writes down their names. “So that leaves Adrien and Marinette working together.”

“They’re fine with it,” Alya insists.

Nino raises his eyebrows. He gets it.

Alya moves down to Adrien’s seat and winks at Nino as Miss Bustier continues to explain the project.

“Sneaky,” Nino whispers.

Alya smirks. “I’ve got my ways.”

The door slams open and Marinette stumbles in. “Sorry I’m late!” she bursts out, catching herself on Nino’s desk. She does a double take when she sees Alya sitting with him. “What?”

Alya wiggles her fingers in greeting.

Miss Bustier sighs. “Thank you for coming, Marinette.”

Marinette turns pink and sits down quickly. “Sorry, it won’t— sorry.”

Miss Bustier finishes her explanation and is passing out a paper explaining the assignment requirements when Adrien walks through the door.

“I’m really sorry, I got caught up,” Adrien says apologetically.

Miss Bustier hands him a paper. “Did you?”

He rubs the back of his neck as he takes it. “I had a shoot during lunch. The akuma made it run late. I’m really sorry, I’ll try not to let it happen again.”

Miss Bustier raises an eyebrow. “Alright. We’re starting a group project. You’ll be working with Marinette.”

Marinette squeaks.

Adrien looks to Nino and Alya in surprise before smiling at Marinette. “That works for me.”

Alya fist bumps Nino under the desk.

—«·»—

“What do you mean _nothing happened_?” Alya hisses into her phone.

Nino rolls his eyes. “Dude, you’re going to get us kicked out.”

She shushes him. “Mari, why do you think I did this?”

“ _Alya I know why you did it, but nothing happened. We worked on the project. We ate some snacks. Adrien left._ ”

Alya groans.

“What happened?” Nino asks.

“They worked, they ate, Adrien left,” she grumbles. “Nothing _fun_.”

“ _Hey! We had fun. Sort of. I don’t know the project is boring and I was too tired to research well but I did find out that Adrien knows some Cantonese._ ”

“Cantonese?” Alya asks. “What does that have to do with anything.”

Nino frowns. “Wait what?”

“Adrien knows Cantonese. I thought he was learning Mandarin?”

“ _He only knows a tiny bit,_ ” Marinette corrects. “ _He got curious_.”

“Of course he gets curious about languages but not—”

“ _Wow look at the time I have to go_.”

Alya gives Nino an unamused look. He shrugs. “You can’t run from this Marinette,” Alya says.

“ _I can power walk_.”

“Shut up.”

“ _I love you too, Al. Have fun working with Nino._ ”

“I can hear the wink in your voice and you need to stop that immediately.”

“ _Oh, like you don’t have a wink in your voice whenever I even look at Adrien._ ”

“That’s _different_.”

“ _How_?”

“I’m actually _dating_ the person you’re voice winking about.”

Nino gives her a weird look.

“Yes, I’m talking about you,” Alya says, blowing him a kiss.

He shakes his head and picks up a highlighter. “That is one of the weirdest things you’ve ever said.”

“ _I really do need to go,_ ” Marinette insists. “ _Have Nino bug Adrien_.”

Alya narrows her eyes at Nino. “Oh trust me, I will.”

“ _Please don’t be weird._ ”

“Didn’t you have something to do?”

“ _Okay okay! Bye. Don’t get caught making out between the shelves._ ”

Alya scoffs. “We’re smarter than that. Bye.” As soon as she hangs up, she points to Nino. “Call Adrien.”

“Already texted him.” Nino spins his phone toward Alya. “See?”

 **From: 260 bpm  
** **To: not apollo  
**      how was your study date???

 **From: not apollo  
** **To: 260 bpm  
**      Well it wasn’t a date but it was fun  
     Did some research  
     Ate some food

 **From: 260 bpm  
** **To: not apollo  
**      soooo nothign happened?

 **From: not apollo  
** **To: 260 bpm  
**      ???  
     What do you mean nothing happened?  
     We got a surprising amount of work done

 **From: 260 bpm  
** **To: not apollo  
**      …  
     dude

 **From: not apollo  
** **To: 260 bpm  
**      Oh that’s not what you meant

 **From: 260 bpm  
** **To: not apollo  
**      nope

Alya groans. “Do I love this boy or do I hate him?”

“Probably both,” Nino says.

“True.”

* * *

_“Wow. That’s boring,” Alix grumbles._

_“Tell me about it.” Alya lays down on the bench and puts her head on Nino’s lap. “A perfect opportunity. Wasted.”_

_“This is why you needed our help,” Rose says. “They’re too caught up in themselves to notice how perfect they are for each other!”_

_“Yeah but we locked them together in a closet for like three hours,” Nathanael says. “Isn’t that enough time for them to realize they could just make out?”_

_Chloé rolls her eyes. “Marinette could flat out ask Adrien on a date and he’d think it was a friendship outing. He’s a romantic fool but wouldn’t recognize a crush if it punched him in the face.”_

_Nino looks down to Alya. “That might be the key.”_

_“What? Marinette punching Adrien in the face?” she asks._

_“How hasn’t that happened yet?” Juleka asks. “Just with how often Marinette trips around him.”_

_“Flailing arms_ everywhere _,” Myèlene agrees._

_“The closet is the next one anyway,” Max points out._

_“Oh god,” Alya mutters._


	3. plan c: closet (aka seven minutes of hell and awkward sexual tension)

**Plan C: Closet Time (aka Seven Minutes of Hell and Awkward Sexual Tension)**

****Alya eyes Chloé. “Are you _sure_ this will work?”

“No.”

“Then why the hell—”

Chloé tosses her hair over her shoulder. “Isn’t it worth a shot? I think if it doesn’t work it proves that we should just give up.”

Alya crosses her arms. “I’m not giving up on this.”

Chloé shrugs. “So be it. Here’s the key,” she tosses it to Alya, “have fun. Don’t start a panic.”

Alya stares at the key. Yup. She’s sunk this low.

—«·»—

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Nino whispers to her.

“No,” Alya admits. “But it’s the best I’ve got. Find Adrien for me?”

He sighs. “Fine.”

“Love you.”

“Yeah yeah, whatever.”

—«·»—

“Yeah, I just need some help carrying the boxes back to class,” Alya says.

“We can help,” Adrien offers.

“Yeah, we definitely can.” Marinette looks up from her phone. “Where did you say they were?”

“In a supplies closet.” Alya leads Marinette and Adrien through the halls. “It’s supposed to be unlocked.”

“This one?” Marinette asks. She motions to the open door.

“Yeah! One sec, I gotta answer this text. They should be right against the shelves.”

When Marinette and Adrien step inside, Alya shuts the door and locks it quickly.

Just on time, her phone starts ringing. She answers it with a smile. “Hey, babe,” she answers cheerfully. “I’ll be right back,” she calls out to Adrien and Marinette. “Operation Closet is a go,” she whispers into the phone as she rushes back to class.

“ _You know you’re the worst, right?_ ” Nino asks.

“I love you too.”

—«·»—

“They’re going to kill you,” Nino says, crossing his arms.

“Which is why _you_ are going to unlock them,” Alya says, shoving the key into his hand. “Have fun and if you die I want your good headphones.”

—«·»—

Nino takes a deep breath and unlocks the door. Alya has already evacuated the premises and he’s all that remains. He wishes that he had been able to tell his mom he loved her once more before getting brutally murdered by Marinette.

He opens the door. “Uh…hey?”

Marinette and Adrien look up from the floor.

“‘Hey’,” Marinette says mockingly.

Adrien raises a hand in greeting.

Nino pulls his hat down a little lower. “Sorry about that.”

“Almost three hours,” Adrien says. “That’s…kind of impressive. Are we really that forgettable?” he jokes.  

“Hell no.”

Marinette gets to her feet and stretches. “I’m going to fucking kill Alya,” she deadpans and marches out of the closet.

Adrien shakes his head as he stands. “I hope you took notes for me,” he says to Nino. “Because I spent three hours sitting in a closet talking to Marinette instead of learning about rotational motion.”

“Fuck rotational motion,” Nino says.

“So I take that as a no on the notes then?”

“You’re going to want to ask Alya.”

Adrien sighs. “I think I’m just going to ask YouTube.”

* * *

_“Why did we call it Seven Minutes of Hell if they were in there for three hours?” Sabrina asks._

_“Seven minutes in heaven,” Alya says. “It was late and I was tired. Now the names are stuck. If you don’t like them, someone else should’ve planned this.”_

_“No one else would’ve done this much,” Max points out._

_“Lies lies and more lies. You’re all annoyed by these two not being together.”_

_“She’s not wrong,” Ivan says._

_Alya points at him. “Ivan gets me.”_

_“God move on,” Chloé says loudly. “Weren’t we trying to finish before lunch ended?”_

_“I was_ sure _the next one would work,” Rose says with a sigh._

_Kim shrugs. “Well, life isn’t a movie.”_

_“It sure would be easier if it was.”_


	4. plan d: double date but not really

**Plan D: Double Date but Not Really**

“The concept is super simple,” Rose insists. “Plan something as a group and then just don’t show up!”

Alya and Nino exchange a look.

“How have we not thought of that?” Nino asks.

Alya shrugs, already pulling out her phone to text the group chat. “Want to hang out on Friday?”

“Sure. Your house?”

“Yup.” She sends a text asking about going to a movie. “Thanks, Rose.”

Rose claps her hands together. “You’re welcome! I hope this works.”

“So do I.”

—«·»—

“Dude, I’m dying,” Nino says. He turns away and coughs loudly. “I can’t come tonight. I came home with a massive headache and now I’m just _dead_.”

Alya rolls her eyes. If Adrien weren’t such an oblivious sweetheart, Nino would never be able to sell this.

Unlike Nino, who thought he should probably give an excuse, she’s just going to not show up. She won’t even contact Marinette or Adrien until one of them contacts her first. And by contact she means call on the phone. Because she hasn’t opened so much of a Snapchat from them since school ended.

“I wish I could, man, I was looking forward to it. I’m just— I don’t think sitting in a theater is a bad idea.”

She can hear Adrien’s muffled voice insisting that it’s fine.

“He’s a sweetheart,” she says when Nino hangs up. “Someone’s got to keep him from getting exploited.”

“What, are you the only one who’s allowed to exploit him?” Nino raises his eyebrows.

“Yes.” Alya leans back against the couch and tugs Nino’s arm around her shoulders.

—«·»—

Alya unmutes her phone around midnight. She mindlessly scrolls through the notifications. Instead of reading them, she just sends Adrien and Marinette each a single text message.

A winking kiss.

Perfect.

* * *

_“Good fucking try,” Kim says. “You thought it’d be that easy?”_

_Rose sighs. “I did my best. I need more material. Does anyone have any romantic movies or books they can recommend?”_

_“I think I do!” Sabrina says excitedly._

_“After, please?” Juleka begs. “We have so many plans to go to.”_

_Alix drops her head on the desk. “Let it end.”_


	5. plan e: escarGO OUT ALREADY

**Plan E: EscarGO OUT ALREADY**

“What does Adrien like?” Alya asks to her classmates. They watch her with dead eyes.

Nino shakes his head.

“Ladybug?” Mylène offers.

“ _No_ ,” Alya says firmly. “The goal is to get _Marinette_ and Adrien together here. No mention of Ladybug is allowed in this room.”

Kim raises her eyebrows. “Plot twist.”

“Fashion?” Rose asks.

Chloé scoffs. “Sure. We can pretend the boy really adores fashion. _Hell no_.”

“Puns,” Nino says.

Everyone looks to him in surprise.

“What?” Nino asks. “Dude has the worst sense of humor ever. It’s great.”

“How do we use puns to get them together?” Alya asks.

“I got this,” Alix promises. “Trust me.”

—«·»—

Alix stands on the steps by the entrance of the school. She rolls her eyes as she watches Marinette and Adrien interact by his car.

The way they look at each other kind of makes her want to vom.

They’re standing really close to each other and she wonders if Alya is 100% sure that they _aren’t_ already dating. Although if they were, they’d be an even grosser romantic mess so… Alya might be right.

Fuck it. Puns away.

Alix cups her hands around her mouth. “EscarGO OUT ALREADY,” she shouts as loudly as possible.

Marinette’s eyes go wide and Adrien looks up to Alix.

Alix points finger guns at him.

He goes red and rubs the back of his neck, looking away from Marinette. Marinette starts stuttering.

Whether or not it worked, Alix tried.

* * *

  _“I’m not surprised that didn’t work,” Sabrina says. “It wasn’t very…”_

_Alix shrugs and puts her feet up on the desk. “I did my best.”_

_“It was better than our next attempt,” Nino says._

_Alya buries her face in her hands. “Oh god.”_


	6. plan f: fucking just shove them together

**Plan F: Fucking Just Shove Them Together**

Kim sneaks up behind Adrien, watching Alix get closer to Marinette. When Alix nods, they shove Adrien and Marinette by the shoulders and sprint away.

Kim looks back to see Adrien and Marinette on the ground in a tangled pile of limbs.

Marinette apologizes profusely as Adrien laughs.

“Damn, didn’t work,” Alix says when they meet up again.

“Did we really think it was going to?” Kim asks.

“Hell no.”

They high five. “Good job.”

* * *

_“I feel like that one was just mean,” Rose says._

_“They were supposed to crash into each other and kiss but…” Kim shrugs. “Oh well.”_

_Nathanael leans forward to squint at the computer screen. “Wait, you tried the group project thing_ again _?”_

_“It was over a month later!” Alya says defensively. “We thought maybe there was a chance.”_

_“Was there?”_

_“Very funny.”_


	7. plan g: group project 2.0

**Plan G: Group Project 2.0**

Alya pokes Marinette repeatedly, not bothering to pick her head up from the desk. “Work with Adrien,” she mumbles when Marinette finally turns to look at her.

“Why?” Marinette asks with a smile.

“For me?” Alya pleads.

Marinette pats Alya’s hand. “Sure, if it’ll make you happy.”

Alya nods and hides her face in the crook of her arm.

She’s _tired_. Chasing Ladybug and Chat Noir after midnight was an awful idea. Just awful. She needs to never do that again.

She looks up a little to see Marinette tap Adrien on the shoulder. He leans back and turns his head so she can whisper in his ear. He nods and whispers something to Nino. Nino reaches back and puts a hand on Alya’s arm.

“We’re good,” he promises.

“Thanks,” she murmurs. She wonders if she’ll be okay sleeping through class.

—«·»—

Nino looks over to Alya with a smile. He had offered to let her sleep in his bed, but instead, she’s curled up on the floor around her textbook. That can’t be comfortable.

He grabs a pillow from his bed and slides it under her head. He checks her phone and isn’t surprised to see a few texts from Marinette.

 **From: beautiful tropical fish  
** **To: pulitzer prize winner  
**      Im surprised you havent called asking how its going yet  
     Or havent called adrien  
     Or had nino call either of us

Nino snorts. If Alya were conscious, she probably would have. He unlocks Alya’s phone — he’d tell her to change her password since so many people know it, but she never will — and sends Marinette a quick reply.

 **From: pulitzer prize winner  
** **To: beautiful tropical fish  
**      yo dude  
     sorry al didnt respond  
     shes kinda asleep on my floor -nino

Marinette responds almost immediately with a call. “ _Hey!_ ”

“What’s up?” Nino asks. “How’s the project going?”

Adrien groans loudly.

“ _You’re on speaker, by the way,_ ” Marinette says. “ _Hope you don’t mind._ ”

“It’s cool,” Nino promises. “You’re probably further along than Al and I are.”

There’s a moment of silence before Adrien says, “ _No promises._ ”

“What have you been doing?”

“ _Definitely haven’t been playing Mecha-Strike_ ,” Marinette says.

“ _Definitely haven’t beaten Marinette’s high score,_ ” Adrien adds.

Marinette scoffs. “ _That’s because you_ haven’t.”

“ _What about you and Alya?_ ” Adrien asks. “ _Get anything done before she crashed?_ ”

“I think we might’ve created a google doc?” Nino shrugs. “It’s not looking good.”

“ _Bad news for us,_ ” Marinette says.

“ _Back to Mecha-Strike?_ ”

“ _Hell yeah. Have fun with your sleepy girlfriend, Nino!_ ”

“Have fun kicking Adrien’s ass,” Nino says with a smile.

“ _Wow. Thanks,_ ” Adrien deadpans. “ _Goodbye, Nino_.”

“Bye, man. Have fun getting killed.” He locks Alya’s phone and joins her on the floor. She’ll probably be pissed that she didn’t get more details when she wakes up, but he’ll deal with that later. For now, he’s set with the fact that Marinette is almost definitely crushing Adrien in Mecha-Strike. Because there is no chance he’s winning.

* * *

_There’s a moment of quiet._

_“So…” Max says slowly. “There’s no_ guarantee _that nothing happened?”_

_Alya gives Nino a pointed look._

_He holds up his hands in surrender. “Hey, they said they were going to play Mecha-Strike. I trust them.”_

_“Besides,” Juleka pipes up, “there’s no guarantee for any of these.”_

_“Yeah, but these two losers totally wouldn’t be able to hide the fact if they were dating,” Alix says. “Trust me, I’ve considered it. There’s no fucking way.”_

_“I think the next one was cute,” Rose says._

_Chloé frowns. “None of us were_ there _for it.”_

 _“It_ sounds _like it would’ve been cute,” Rose corrects. “Just the concept is really cute! Come on!”_

_“True,” Alya says. “Props to Nath for this one.”_


	8. plan h: hello from the other side (of the world)

**Plan H: Hello From the Other Side (of the World)**

They all gather around the desk to talk in hushed whispers. They’ve only got a minute before lunch ends and Marinette will _probably_ be back by then.

“Are we all cool with that?” Nino asks. He notices Chloé doesn’t look thrilled, but she doesn’t say anything and just averts her eyes.

“I’m willing to give up some time talking to Adrien for this,” Alya says.

“It stinks that this is one of our only calls with him,” Rose says sadly, “but I do think it’s a good idea.”

Nathanael shrugs. “We don’t have to do it, but since it’s been a while since they saw each other…”

“Let’s do it,” Alix says loudly. “And hope Skype isn’t the worst.”

“Skype is always the worst,” Nino points out.

“Preach.”

“Alright team,” Alya says. “Operation International Call is a go.”

Chloé rolls her eyes. “Please come up with a better name.”

Alya ignores her. “Fall out!”

—«·»—

They all come up with their excuses for not being around when Adrien calls. Marinette seems surprised, but she just shrugs it off and says it’ll be fine and she’ll send Adrien their love.

Alya mutters to Mylène that Marinette is the one whose love needs to be sent.

Unfortunately, there’s no announcement of anything when Marinette tells them about the call the next day. All she says is they talked. They talked about school and Adrien’s shoot.

Alya is more than a little annoyed.

A call from halfway around the world is a great time for a declaration of love.

* * *

_“I still wish I knew more about what they talked about,” Rose admits._

_Most of the classmates murmur in agreement._

_“I still feel_ bad _,” Nino says. “Like man. I know we talked to him the next week, but still. He was gone for like a month and we skipped out on one of the calls.”_

_“Sorry,” Nathanael mutters. “It wasn’t the best suggestion.”_

_“Hey, we all agreed to it,” Alya reminds him. “I don’t really think it was a bad thing. Besides, it was like what? Week one for him? I bet he was kind of overwhelmed. It might’ve been a good thing that we weren’t all shouting at him through a screen. What’s next?”_


	9. plan i: illness

**Plan I: Illness**

“Isn’t this basically the same as last time we skipped out on them?” Nino asks.

Alya groans. “I don’t know but I feel _awful_. Don’t you?”

“My head kind of feels like it’s going to explode but I blame that on the sleep deprivation.”

“This can be like, unofficial. Or something.” Alya waves her hands. “I don’t know. Let me die, Nino.”

“But I don’t want you to die.”

Alya rolls over and buries her face in Nino’s shirt. “Let me _dieeeee_ ,” she whines.

He runs his hand over her hair. “Al, if you die, who’s going to force Adrien and Marinette to get together?”

“If they haven’t figured it out by now they _deserve_ to suffer,” she grumbles.

“Wow you must really feel awful.”

“I want to die.”

Nino tugs Alya to her feet. “Let’s find some medicine. I’m sure they won’t mind going to dinner by themselves.”

Alya shoves her phone at Nino. “You do it. Looking at the screen hurts my head.”

* * *

_“Weak,” Alix mutters._

_“Hey, I was sick,” Alya protests. “Besides, we were both out with fevers the next day and Adrien and Marinette sat together in class, so I think it worked out in the end.”_

_“Debatable,” Max says. “They still aren’t together.”_

_“It was better than the memes.”_

_“Oh god.”_  


	10. plan j: just do it (and other motivational memes)

**Plan J: Just Do It (and Other Motivational Memes)**

“I can’t believe we’re doing this,” Juleka mutters.

“Neither can I,” Mylène says. “Why _are_ we doing this?”

“Motivational memes,” Alix says seriously.

Ivan gives her an unconvinced look.

“I’m out of ideas,” Alix says. “We need to do _something_ though because this is the worst.”

“So we chose…memes?” Rose asks.

Nathanael rubs his temples. “Why am I friends with you people why am I friends with you people _why am I friends with you people_.”

Alix elbows him. “You don’t have a choice.”  

He groans. “That’s the worst part.”

Juleka sighs. “Time to blast memes at a famous supermodel.”

Alix smirks. “Hell yeah.”

“Why do I feel like just have this weird fantasy about playing memes really loudly?” Rose asks.

“Because it’s true,” Alix says. “No shame.”

“You should be ashamed,” Nathanael grumbles.

Ivan nods in agreement. “You’re going to be known for this.”

Alix cracks her knuckles. “Perfect.” She presses play.

Nathanael and Rose duck behind the door to hide with Juleka. Ivan and Mylène just take a few steps away. Alix embraces it.

“ _DO IT!_ ” blasts from Juleka’s speaker.

Adrien jerks backwards. He twists toward the speaker with a horrified look in his eyes. “ _Holy shit_ ,” he hisses. “Don’t _do that!_ ”

Alix starts laughing as Shia LaBeouf continues to yell in Adrien’s direction.

“ _JUST DO IT! Don't let your dreams be dreams! Yesterday you said tomorrow. So just do it! Make your dreams come true. Just do it._ ”

‘ _Why_ ,’ Adrien mouths to her.

“You can do it, Agreste!” she shouts.

“ _Some people dream of success, while you're gonna wake up and work hard at it. Nothing is impossible._ ”

“You’re so embarrassing,” Nathanael mutters.

Alix sticks her tongue out at him.

“ _You should get to the point where anyone else would quit, and you're not going to stop there. No, what are you waiting for?_ ”

She notices Adrien slinking away. “You think you can run from Shia LaBeouf?” she asks him.

“ _Do it! Just do it! Yes you can_.”

“Actual cannibal Shia LaBeouf,” Juleka whispers.

Rose giggles and Mylène hides a smile.

“ _Just do it! If you're tired of starting over, stop giving up._ ”

Adrien lifts a hand toward Alix. “Thanks for the motivation.”

“Ask her out already!” Alix shouts.

Adrien laughs. “I’ll consider it.”

“Just do it!” Juleka yells, laughing.

“Don’t let your memes be dreams!” Rose adds.

* * *

_“I still hate you all for that,” Nathanael says._

_“The best moment of my entire life,” Alix insists._

_“I say we play John Cena the first time we see them kiss,” Kim says. “Bring it full circle.”_

_“How the hell is that full circle?” Nino asks._

_“We are_ not _having meme discussions right now,” Chloé interrupts. “Move on.”_


	11. plan k: kim really sucks at this

_“Oh god do we really have to talk about this one?” Kim asks._

_“Because you said that, definitely.”_

* * *

**Plan K: Kim Really Sucks at This**

Kim drapes an arm over Marinette’s shoulder. “Hey, what’s up?”

Marinette raises an eyebrow at him. “Just trying to do classwork. What’s up with you?”

“Just chilling.”

“Don’t you have your own classwork to be doing?”

“Pff, only losers do classwork.”

She stares at him.

He backtracks as fast as he can. “I mean, _you’re_ not loser. I’m just… Shit.”

Marinette snorts. “What do you want, Kim?”

“Nothing!”

She crosses her arms. “You have your arm around me, Kim. You want _something_.”

Kim discreetly looks across the room to where Nino and Adrien are sitting. He just needs Adrien to _look over_. “Am I not allowed to hang out with a friend?”

“We’re in the middle of class,” she points out.

“Real friends can hang out at _all times_.”

Kim sees Nino nudge Adrien. Adrien looks over. He gives Kim a confused look.

Damn. Not the expected or wanted reaction. Maybe if he keeps—

Marinette ducks out from under Kim’s arm. “This was fun, but I need to ask Ms. Mendeleiev a question.”

Alix slides up next to Kim once Marinette has walked away. “Was that supposed to make Adrien jealous?” she asks with a snort.

“Uh…”

She looks at him for a moment before she doubles over laughing. “Oh _man_ !” She pats his arm. “You fucking _suck_ at this. Good luck because _wow_.”

* * *

_Kim slides down the bench and onto the floor. “I thought we weren’t going to talk about that ever again.”_

_Alix howls with laughter._

_“That was the least convincing thing I’ve ever seen,” Nino says._

_“Yeah, it was mostly just weird as hell,” Juleka adds._

_“It probably would’ve worked better with anyone else,” Sabrina suggests._

_Chloé scoffs. “_ I _could be more convincing.”_

_Alix stops laughing to wiggle her eyebrows at Chloé._

_Chloé chucks her nail file at her._

_“Okay, let’s move on,” Alya says quickly._ ****


	12. plan l: lila, the unexpected

**Plan L: Lila, The Unexpected**

Chloé raises her eyebrows at Lila. It’s _such_ a good thing that the girl hadn’t been brought to any of Alya’s emergency Adrien and Marinette meetings. The way she’s glaring at Adrien— god it just _sounded_ like a disaster.

Chloé crosses her arms. “What’s your problem with him?”

“Do you _see_ the way he’s looking at her?” Lila asks.

Chloé does she and she’s honestly kind of disgusted by it. Adrien’s emotions are so clear on his face. The paparazzi would have a goddamn field day.

She’s going to have to sit him down and have a talk about that. She’s amazed Nathalie hasn’t already nipped that in the bud. It couldn’t be any more obvious that he’s enamored with Marinette.

Gross.

“I see it.” Chloé still doesn’t like Lila’s glare. _Especially_ considering the way Lila’s acted toward Adrien since she got akumatized. Personally, she thinks Lila needs to get over it.

But that’s just her opinion.

“She could do _so much better than him_ ,” Lila hisses.

Chloé tenses.

She knows Lila looks highly on Marinette. Marinette is _Marinette_ . It takes a lot not to like her, a fact of which Chloé is obviously very aware of. But to say that Marinette could do _better_ than Adrien?

“Why do you say that?” Chloé asks coolly.

“I’ve seen nicer garbage in the streets,” Lila says flatly.

Chloé clenches her jaw. “Someone should warn her, then,” she says tightly. She marches over to Marinette and grabs her arm tightly. “Lila is trash talking Adrien,” she hisses in Marinette’s ear.

Marinette’s eyes widen in surprise and dart over to Lila. “Why are you telling me this?” she murmurs.

“I’m being diplomatic.”

She purses her lips. “Okay. I’ll see what I can do.”

Chloé nods curtly. “I told her to watch out for Adrien,” she says to Lila as she walks back over. “Unfortunately, she doesn’t exactly—”

Marinette smiles brightly and wraps her arm around Adrien’s.

“—listen to me,” Chloé finishes. She’s careful not to show any emotion.

Lila balls her hands up into fists. “That boy,” she grumbles.

Chloé really needs to get the entire Volpina story from Adrien. The little she knows from the Ladyblog really doesn’t explain why Lila hates him _so much_ . She shrugs. “Maybe _you_ need to be the one to talk to Marinette.” Which would definitely go over well.

Lila narrows her eyes as Adrien smiles at Marinette with his eyes sparkling. Marinette rises up on her toes and presses a kiss to Adrien’s cheek.

“Maybe I will,” Lila says.

“Good luck,” Chloé says sincerely. Because Lila will need it. That doesn’t mean Chloé doesn’t relish in the feeling of victory for the next hour. Victory is victory, whether she gets help winning it or not.

* * *

_“Should this one really count?” Max asks. “We weren’t technically trying to get them together.”_

_Chloé glares at him. “Say that again.”_

_“Should it—”_

_“Cheek kiss,” she interrupts. “Your argument is invalid.”_

_“She did get the furthest along out of…all of us,” Rose says._

_“Thank you.”_

_Nathanael frowns at Alya’s laptop. “Did we really go back to puns for the next one?”_

_“That was_ all _Nino,” Alya says._

 _“It was late,” Nino mutters. “I was tired.”_  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~~this is the first time i've ever written lila i am so sorry~~


	13. plan m: marry mari

**Plan M: Marry Mari**

“Hey, hey, Adrien.” Nino nudges Adrien awake.

“Hm?” Adrien squints at him in the darkness. “Wha’?”

“You should marry Mari.”

Adrien tilts his head in confusion. “Dude, i’s so late.”

“Marry Mari.”

“You’re just making sounds.”

“Our _friend_ ,” Nino emphasizes. “Our friend _Mari_. You should marry her. Cause her name is Mari.”

Adrien looks at him for a long moment. He drops his head back on the pillow. “Go t’ sleep.”

* * *

_“Well, you tried,” Alya says. She pats Nino’s shoulder. “Good attempt.”_

_“Give me a break,” Nino says. “None of you could do any better if it were three in the morning.”_

_Alix and Kim perk up._

_“Do_ not _make that a challenge,” Nathanael says._

_“What’s next?” Rose asks eagerly._


	14. plans n, o, p, q, r, and t: when you try your best but fail miserably

**Plans N, O, P, Q, R, and T: When You Try Your Best but Fail Miserably**

……

* * *

_“Some plans are just too awful to even mention,” Nino says._

_Juleka and Mylène nodded in agreement._

_“What happened to Plan S?” Rose asks._

_Alya shudders. “We don’t talk about Plan S.”_


	15. plan u: unbelievable

**Plan U: Unbelievable**

“You should ask Marinette out,” Max says.

Adrien looks across the room to Marinette. She’s leaning against Alya’s side as she laughs at something Ivan said.

Max watches the soft look that crosses Adrien’s face and resists the urge to shake his head.

“I’ll think about it,” Adrien murmurs.

—«·»—

“Have you ever thought about asking Adrien out?” Rose asks.

Marinette laughs. “Hundreds of times.”

“Recently,” Juleka corrects.

Marinette glances toward where Adrien is playing hacky sack with Kim and Alix.

Rose and Juleka exchange a look when Marinette sighs and looks down into her drink with a small smile.

“I’ll think about it again,” Marinette says.

* * *

_Alix drops her arm over her face. “I can’t believe we went back to Plan A.”_

_“I wasn’t even thinking about trying to get them together,” Rose says. “I just wanted to ask.”_

_“Adrien’s face when you ask about Marinette…” Max puts down his pencil. “I don’t even know what to do with him.”_

_“Are we sure knocking their heads together won’t work?” Kim asks. “‘Cause that’s a really attractive looking option right now.”_

_“No fucking worries,” Alya mutters. “Since Plan V was a disaster.”_


	16. plan v: victory is fleeting

**Plan V: Victory is Fleeting**

Marinette and Adrien are fighting.

“Are we sure they didn’t secretly get together and break up?” Rose whispers to Alya before class.

Alya glances between the pair. “Trust me,” she whispers back, “we would all know if they had broken up. There is no way we wouldn’t know.” The only thing she can imagine coming out of a breakup is two incredibly heartbroken and shattered teenagers. There’s no way they’d be at school just giving each other the silent treatment.

“We aren’t fighting,” Marinette insists when Alya asks.

“But you haven’t talked all day,” Alya says.

“But we also aren’t fighting.”

“ _Mari_.”

Marinette sighs. “We just had a little disagreement. We need some space away from each other. That’s all. We’ll be fine.”

Alya furrows her eyebrows. “Are you sure?”

“Positive.”

Alya drags Adrien away from Nino the second she can. “Are you okay?” she asks.

Adrien rubs the back of his neck. “Yeah, why?”

“Because you and Marinette are acting weird.”

He drops his eyes to the ground. “It’s nothing. We just… Yesterday something happened and we don’t see eye to eye on it.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

He smiles sadly at her. “No, it’s okay. I’ll be fine. I’m going to talk to her after class this afternoon. Don’t worry about it too much, okay?”

Alya agrees, but she worries anyway.

“Do you think they’re really going to be okay?” she asks Nino as Marinette and Adrien avoid eye contact in the locker room.

“Eventually,” Nino admits.

Alya scrunches up her nose. “You know I hate it when you say that. Come on, let’s fix it now.” She takes Nino’s hand and drags him over to Marinette. She loops her arm through Marinette’s before pulling both of them over to Adrien. Nino takes Adrien’s arm and Alya charges off to the Dupain-Cheng bakery, ignoring Marinette and Adrien’s protests.

She says a quick hello to Tom and Sabine. Nino hops off the chain to grab them food as Alya half carries the other two up to Marinette’s room. Then, she shoves them up to Marinette’s loft bed and onto the balcony.

“Sort this out,” she says. Then she shuts the trap door and locks it.

Alya joins Nino in front of Marinette’s computer.

“Should we give them food?” Nino asks.

Alya takes a plate from him. “In a minute. Let’s give them a minute. You have their phones?”

Nino pulls them out of his pocket and puts them on Marinette’s desk.

“Perfect.”

—«·»—

“Good?” Alya asks as she pops open the trapdoor.

Marinette and Adrien look down at her in surprise. Marinette’s eyes are tearing up and Adrien looks ashamed. They’ve both got closed body language and are standing as far away from each other as they can. And Alya can’t help but wonder for a moment if they really did get together and break up before she reminds herself there is no _way_.

She puts the two plates on the floor of the balcony. “I’ll leave you be,” she says and ducks back inside. This time, she doesn’t bother locking the trapdoor behind her.

—«·»— 

Marinette and Adrien come down from the balcony a few minutes before they have to get back to school. They freeze on the stairs down from the loft as Alya and Nino turn to look at them.

Marinette swallows thickly. “Hi.”

Alya gives her a small smile.

“I’ve got your phones,” Nino says. He holds them up.

“We figured,” Adrien says softly.

“Ready for class?” Alya asks.

Marinette shrugs. “As we’ll ever be.”

Nino hands her her phone. “I feel that on an emotional level.”

Alya decides it’s best not to mention that she notices how close together Marinette and Adrien are walking when she glances back at them on their way to school. She also keeps her mouth shut about the hand holding. She’ll save that for a later day.

* * *

_“Woooooow,” Chloé drawls. “Hand holding. Groundbreaking.”_

_Alya rolls her eyes._

_Mylène glances around the room. “Did anyone ever figure out what happened that day?”_

_“I don’t think so,” Sabrina says. “It was just…weird.”_

_“Definitely,” Kim agrees. “The next one is less depressing, let’s talk about that.”_


	17. plan w: wrong number

**Plan W: Wrong Number**

“I’ve got it!” Alix shouts, sprinting into the classroom. She skids to a stop and hands the phone to Alya. “Hope you know the password. And be quick.”

Alya takes Adrien’s phone. She unlocks it and opens up to his contacts.

Mylène leans over her shoulder. “How do you know his password?”

Alya waves a hand. “I have my ways.” She quickly switches Nino and Marinette’s contact names.

“What about old messages?” Roses asks.

Alya holds up Marinette’s phone. “Trust me on this, I just need to get the messages from ‘Nino’ to hide the rest of the ones on the screen. He won’t think to scroll up.”

“I feel like this is more risky than the other ones,” Mylène murmurs. “I don’t like it”

“It’ll be fine,” Alix says. “What can they do, yell at us?”

“Uh…yes?”

“Even if they _are_ mad, which they won’t be, hopefully one day we can all laugh about this together. At their wedding.”

Rose bit her lip. “If you say so…”

“Of course I do.” Alya puts down Adrien’s phone and unlocks Marinette’s. She sends messages until they filled the screen, doing her best to copy Nino’s texting style. Marinette won’t be _too_ mad. Besides, the conversation that is going to come out of this will be way more interesting than the homework their last texts had been about.

Alix watches Adrien’s screen light up. “Yup. They’re going through.”

“Awesome.” Alya locks Marinette’s phone. “Take it away, Alix.”

Alix grabs Adrien’s phone and sprints out of the room.

“Oooooooh this is going to be a mess,” Mylène whispers.

“A beautiful one,” Alya says with a smile.

—«·»—

“You did _what_ ?!” Nino hisses at Alya. He moves closer to her so no one else in the hallway can hear him. “Alya _why_.”

She crosses her arms. “ _Someone_ had to take action.”

“We’ve been taking action for _months_.”

“Clearly not _enough_.”

Nino takes off his glasses and rubs the bridge of his nose. “The stress of dating you is actually going to kill me.”

“You know you love me.”

“But at what _cost_?”

Alya punches him lightly. “It’s going to be fine.”

“I’m literally never going to be able to look at Adrien again,” Nino says.

“Have you ever actually outright asked him if he likes Marinette?” Alya asks.

Nino throws out his arms. “Yes! Of course I did! He gave a really great non answer and then changed the subject.”

Alya watches him with a bored expression until he calms down. “It’ll be fine,” she promises.

“You owe me so much,” Nino says. “I don’t even know what. You just _owe me_.”

“I can work with that.”

—«·»—

Nino yelps and throws his phone when he gets a text from Adrien.

Alya looks up from her laptop in surprise. “What?”

Nino leans away from his phone. “I got a text.”

“…and?”

“It’s from Adrien.”

“Oh. I forgot I did that.”

Nino glares at Alya. “Yeah, thanks for that, babe. I really appreciate it.”

Alya gets up and picks up Nino’s phone. “Oh my god stop being so overdramatic. They aren’t even that bad.”

He motions for her to continue.

She rolls her eyes. “He says ‘Hey, somehow my contacts for you and Mari got switched. Super weird, my phone must be glitching out. Just wanted to let you know in case it happens again and I send you something meant for her.’” Alya makes a face. “That’s disappointing.”

“Do you think they figured it out?” Nino asks.

“They’re both probably wondering why Marinette sent you such weird messages.”

“Okay, great. All the blame will fall on you. That’s a relief.”

“Hey!”

* * *

_“Still mad that didn’t work,” Alya says._

_“I’m glad it didn’t,” Rose counters. “I don’t think it’d be good if their relationship was founded on a lie.”_

_“It wasn’t a_ lie _.” Chloé shakes her head. “It was just a switch. A little deception. Trust me, if lies could’ve gotten them together, I would’ve figured out how to do that a long time ago.”_

_“Of course you would have,” Nino mutters._

_She gives him a cold smile. “Hi, sweetie, I’m a politician’s daughter. My life is full of lying slimeballs. You pick things up.”_

_“Are you sure you’re not a lying slimeball?” Alix asks._

_Chloé narrows her eyes. “Keep in mind that I could destroy all of your lives at any moment in time. Maybe I am a lying slimeball. It’ll get me places. I embrace it.”_

_Alya makes a face. “Okay, whatever.”_

_“What was next?” Nathanael asks. “I don’t really want to talk about politics.”_


	18. plan x

**~~Plan X:~~ **

…… 

* * *

_ “Fuck that,” Alya says. “I wasn’t coming up with a plan name that started with x. We skipped straight to y.”  _

_ “What about xylophones?” _

_ “If a xylophone would’ve gotten them together I’m literally going to scream.”  _


	19. plan y: y are we still doing this

**Plan Y: Y Are We Still Doing This**

****“If I lock you two in another closet will you make out?” Alya asks Marinette.

Marinette gives her a weird look. “I didn’t think you’d ever actually admit to that.”

“Mar, my darling, it is _so late_ and I am _so tired_ and I just want you two to get together and be disgustingly happy and in love.” Alya takes off her glasses and puts them on the table next to the couch. “Is that too much to ask?”

Marinette looks thoughtful for a moment. “Why are you trying so hard? Can’t it just happen naturally?”

Alya groans and sinks back into the couch. “We _tried_ letting it happen naturally. And I’m sick of that! Ladybug locked Nino and I in a _cage_ together. Is that really natural?”

Marinette hums. “Do you think her intentions were to get you together? Because if they weren’t…it’s not a normal situation but I think it’s still natural.”

“I hate you,” Alya grumbles. “Just kiss the boy already.”

“I can’t just walk up to him and kiss him,” Marinette says, turning pink.

Alya throws her arms out. “Why not?! He wants to kiss you too! Just ask!”

Marinette laughs. “I’ll think about it.”

Alya grabs her by the shoulders. “Stop thinking and _act_.”

Marinette gives Alya an exasperated smile and pulls her hands off her shoulders. “Can we please go back to watching the movie?”

* * *

_Kim snorts. “Okay, nice one.”_

_Alya scowls. “Listen—”_

_“The next two were like legit attempts,” Nino interrupts. “And we’re almost done. Can we move on?”_


	20. plan z: zebras and zoo dates

**Plan Z: Zebras and Zoo Dates**

“Class trip to the zoo!” Rose shouts, grabbing Juleka’s arm and pulling her out the door.

“Shoutout to Chloé for paying!” Alix adds. She hops a desk and sprints out of the room.

Chloé stares at the doorway for a long moment. “What the fuck? When did I say that?!” she yells, marching after Alix.

“Oh hell no she’s not going to beat me there.” Kim tosses his bag to Max before chasing Alix, squeezing through the door past Chloé and Sabrina.

Marinette looks up from her sketchbook in surprise. “The zoo?” she asks. “I didn’t know we were going to the zoo.”

“Last minute plan,” Alya says, gathering up her things. “I thought I texted you?”

Marinette shakes her head.  

“Oh shit, I’m sorry. I probably didn’t hit send. Can you come?”

“Um…” Marinette taps her pencil against her lips. “Probably for a little bit?”

“Awesome!” Alya tugs Marinette to her feet. “Let’s go!”

“Promise you won’t lock me in a panther cage?” Marinette asks softly.

Alya scoffs. “Of course I won’t. That’s so unoriginal.”

She crosses that off her list.

—«·»—

“Good thing I already talked to Nathalie about clearing your schedule, man,” Nino says, dragging Adrien out of the room.

Adrien gives him a surprised look. “You _talked_ to Nathalie?”

“I can talk to Nathalie,” Nino says defensively.

Adrien raises an eyebrow.

“Okay _fine_. Chloé talked to Nathalie.”

“That’s more believable.”

“Shut up.” Nino’s phone buzzes a few times. He ignores it, he knows the plan and Alya will need to wait for them to get to the zoo before she starts making changes to it.

Alix and Kim sprint across the street screaming at each other.

Nino shakes his head. “I can’t believe we’re those people.”

Adrien laughs. “I’m glad we’re those people, honestly.”

“You would,” Nino says, ruffling his hair.

Alya runs up to them, pulling Marinette behind her, and loops her arm through Nino’s. “I’m so ready to watch Kim and Alix make more bets.” She leans closer to Nino and whispers, “I hate you so much for not checking your phone.”

He smiles and presses a kiss to her nose. “You’re welcome.”

“And we’re crossing,” Adrien announces, dragging them across the street.

Marinette sighs. “Can we not have more bets? Do we really need _another_ akuma?”

Alya looks to Nino and raises her eyebrows.

“No,” he says firmly. There is no way they’re causing an akuma so they can lock Adrien and Marinette in a cage together. Besides, they basically did that with the closet. And that was a major fail.

—«·»—

“We’ll be back in a minute,” Alya promises. “But I want food and Nino owes me.”

“ _I_ owe you?” Nino asks. “I feel like that’s wrong.”

She shushes him. “Will you be okay?”

Marinette rolls her eyes. “We aren’t five, we’ll be fine.”

“Buy me a drink,” Adrien adds.

“Stay together!” Alya shouts and she walks away. “Buddy system and all that!”

Nino glances back to see Adrien offer Marinette his hand. She rolls her eyes, but takes it. Goddammit. “You’re the one who owes me,” he reminds Alya. “Or do you not remember all of the trauma you’ve put me through during the past few months?”

“Yeaaaaaah, but I left my money at home.” She bats her eyelashes at him. “I love you?”

“God you’re really the worst.”

“And yet, you’re still dating me.”

They meet up with the rest of the class at the food stand.

“Isn’t this kind of like when you abandoned them on group outings?” Chloé asks, crossing her arms.

Alya and Nino exchange a look and shrug.

“Might as well just keep trying,” Rose says.

Nathanael groans. “This is never going to work.”

“Well, I want to go see the panther that Kim akumatized someone over,” Mylène says.

Kim scowls. “Rude.”

Ivan smiles. “I want to see this legendary panther too.”

“None of you are my friends.”

“Good thing none of us like you,” Alix says.

“ _Fight me_.”

“COME AT ME ASSHOLE!”

Nathanael buries his head in his hands. “We’re going to get banned from the _zoo_.”

Max nods. “That seems to be a pretty likely outcome of this.”

—«·»—

“Where are you?” Alya asks. “Sorry it took so long, we got caught up in a line.”

“  _We’re by the zebras_ ,” Marinette says over the phone. “ _Did you get Adrien a drink?_ ”

Alya glances over to Nino, who’s somehow holding four drinks along with a bag of chips while scrolling through his phone. “We got one for you too, just in case.”

“ _Ooo thank you!_ ”

“We’ll be over in a few,” Alya promises.

“ _Take your time, no rush._ ”

Alya smirks when she hangs up. “I think we did it.”

Nino looks up in surprise. “Really?”

* * *

_“Wait did you seriously think—”_

_“YES,” Alya interrupts Nathanael loudly. “I was trying to be optimistic. But nooooo they were just talking about whether zebras were black with white stripes or white with black stripes.”_

_“White with black stripes,” Alix says immediately._

_Max shakes his head. “Black with white stripes.”_

_Juleka looks confused. “They can’t be both?”_

_Alya shrugs. “Google it later, we’re almost done.”_


	21. plan aa: anonymous letters

**Plan AA: Anonymous Letters**

“Oh oh oh add a heart,” Rose says, pointing the screen.

“ _Another?_ ” Juleka asks. “Don’t you think that’s a little much?”

Chloé raises her eyebrows. “Have you ever _met_ Marinette?”

“I feel like three hearts is a bit much,” Juleka says. “Especially for the first letter.”

Rose purses her lips. “What did they write from Adrien?”

“Disgusting romantic stuff that verged on mediocre love poetry.” Chloé scrolls through her phone, attempting to find the message. They added her to a group chat for this and it’s arguably one of the worst things that’s ever happened to her. She’s not sure how they got her number but she suspects Alya stole either Adrien’s or Sabrina’s phone. And now she gets bombarded by memes the moment she unmutes the chat.

She’s tried to leave, but Alya keeps adding her back in.

“Hm…disgusting romantic stuff that verges on mediocre love poetry…” Juleka hesitates for moment before googling it.  

Chloé rolls her eyes. “Wow. That’s sad. Don’t you have a girlfriend?”

“She does,” Rose says brightly and presses a kiss to Juleka’s cheek.

“It’s different,” Juleka insists.

Chloé makes a face at all of the love poems that come up on google. “How?”

“First of all, we’re less of a mess than those two. And also significantly less oblivious.”

“‘Every heart sings a song incomplete until another heart whispers back’,” Rose reads. “Plato. Aww that’s kind of sweet! And Adrien’s a musician…”

“What are the odds that this is actually a Plato quote?” Chloé asks.

Juleka shrugs. “It’s a letter from a secret admirer, we don’t need to have in text citations or anything.” She adds the quote to the document they’ve shared with the class for all these letters. “Let’s just go for it.”

—«·»—

“Have you seen what they’ve been writing for the letters?” Mylène asks Nathanael.

Nathanael makes a face. “I’m going to be honest, I’m afraid to check that doc.”

“It’s not _bad_ ,” she promises. “It’s just… I can’t say it’s _not_ Marinette and Adrien. They’re all just very…lovey.”

Nathanael raises his eyebrows.

“We might need to edit them.”

“Goddammit.”

—«·»—

“Rose, I love you,” Alya says. “And your heart stickers.”

“How many is too many?” Alix asks.

Nino points to Kim, who has been sticking them on Max. “That’s too many.”

“Sweet.”

“Are you sure we can’t spray these with perfume?” Kim asks.

Chloé makes a face. “That’s tacky.”

“And overkill,” Alya adds.

“My dreams are ruined,” Kim whines.

Max pats his back, stickers falling off his shirt as he does so. “You’ll be able to live out your rom com dreams someday.   

—«·»—

Nathanael sighs and slides the letter into Adrien’s locker. He looks over to Juleka, who’s putting one in Marinette’s. “I can’t believe this.”

Juleka shrugs. “It’s worth a shot?”

“Is it really? Is it _really_ worth it anymore?”

She smiles. “Just imagine how much of a relief it’ll be when they finally get together.”

He stares at Adrien’s locker. “I can’t believe I’m going to be Adrien’s secret admirer for two weeks.”

“It could be worse.”

“Can you imagine if they don’t realize they’re supposed to be from each other?” Nathanael asks. “And they think the letters are from someone else. And then they _fall_ for someone else. And then they _date_ someone else?”

Juleka shudders. “Let’s not think about that. I think Alya would actually murder someone.”

—«·»—

“Ooooo what’s that?” Alya asks, dropping down next to Marinette on the bench.

“It’s from a secret admirer,” Marinette says, surprised.

Alya raises her eyebrows. “Is it?”

“Yeah.” Marinette smiles. “It’s really cute, actually.”

“Any idea who it could be from?” Alya looks pointedly at Adrien’s seat.

“Not yet.” Marinette folds up the letter and slides it into her notebook. “Maybe next time I’ll get a hint.”  

—«·»—

Nino pokes the paper Adrien’s holding. “What’s this?”

“A letter.” Adrien smiles. “I think it’s a love letter.”

Nino reads over Adrien’s shoulder. “You _think_ that’s a love letter?”

Adrien laughs. “Okay, fine. It’s definitely a letter from a secret admirer.”

“Damn, bro. Any idea who could’ve sent it?”

“None,” Adrien admits. “But I’m excited to find out.”

—«·»—

Nathanael is laying on top of a desk. Juleka is on the floor. Rose is sitting on a bench with her legs crossed, reaching down to play with Juleka’s hair.

“We good?” Kim asks, stopping in from of Nathanael’s desk.

Nathanael groans loudly.

“They haven’t figured it out,” Rose says. “And we’re out of letters.”

Nathanael throws his arms out in front of him. “We told them! We basically told them! It couldn’t be any clearer! What the fuck!”

“Alya’s going to lose it,” Juleka mumbles.

“Back to the drawing board?” Rose asks.

“I give up,” Nathanael announces. “I’m so done. I love them, but I’m done.”

Juleka mumbles in agreement.

* * *

 _Rose sighs. “It would’ve been sweet if they sent each other_ actual _secret love letters.”_

_“They would be so gross if they were together,” Alix says. “I can’t believe they’re depriving us of that.”_

_“That’s all, isn’t it?” Mylène asks._

_Alya nods. “Yup. Because the letters ended last week. And there was no change. Nothing at all.”_


	22. plan bb: ???

**Plan BB: ???**

“So…what now?” Sabrina asks. “We’ve kind of run out of options.”

“I can’t believe we went through the _entire alphabet_ ,” Nathanael groans.

“Just to be clear,” Chloé says, “I am _not_ going through it again. If those two haven’t figured it out by now, they’re never going to.” She crosses her arms. “Sorry, Alya. Might be time to face the music.”

Alya sighs and sits down. “I feel like I’m missing something. Like I’m missing some…fundamental thing about them that would make this _work_.”

Alix rolls her eyes. “You and Nino are their best friends. You two know literally everything about them.”

“There has to be something else. We can’t _all_ be sucky wingmen,” Max says, elbowing Kim.

Kim glares.

Nino frowns. “Do you hear that?”

Alya strains to hear. “Is that…” She jumps up and turns off the lights, shushing everyone as she does so.

That’s _laughter_.

Chloé gives her a weird look. ‘School’, she mouths to Alya.

Alya presses a finger to her lips and sits back down.

The voices get closer.

She can—

Marinette’s muffled voice can barely be heard through the door. “Tell that to Alya.”

“No thanks,” Adrien jokes. “I don’t feel like dying today.”

Alya grabs Nino’s hand and squeezes it hard so she doesn’t say anything.

“Why are the lights off?” Marinette asks.

“I don’t—” The door swings open. Adrien stares at Nino and Alya. His gaze slowly sweeps the classroom. “Uh…hi?”

They stare at him and Marinette in silence.

“Why are you sitting in the dark?” Marinette asks. She flicks on the lights. “Was there a meeting we weren’t told about? A meeting where you…sit in th—”

“Why are you holding hands?” Chloé asks suddenly.

Alya’s gaze drops to their hands just in time to see them jerk away from each other.

 _Holy shit_.

“What…the _fuck_?” Nathanael says softly.

Marinette and Adrien glance at each other, both blushing furiously.

“Um…” Adrien avoids eye contact and Marinette bites her lip. “We’re dating?” he says sheepishly.

“You little shits,” Alix whispers. “You little _shits_!” she repeats, louder.

Alya takes a measured breath and presses her hands together. “How _long_ have you been dating?”

“Not long after Volpina,” Marinette admits.

Sabrina sighs and hops off the top of the desk. She lays down on the floor. “Of course.”

“This,” Juleka says, motioning to the two of them, “is some bullshit.”

“That,” Alya says. “That was months ago. Months ago. That was—”

Nino puts a hand on her shoulder. “Breathe.”

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Rose asks.

Marinette and Adrien glance at each other and shrug.

“You didn’t notice at first,” Adrien says. “And then it was just kind of fun to see how far you would go to try and get us together.”

Marinette smirks. “The letters were cute. I’d date my secret admirer if we weren’t both taken.” She winks at Juleka.

Alya groans and puts her head down on the desk. “I hate you two so much.”

Chloé closes her eyes. “I didn’t have to deal with all of this. I didn’t have to deal with _any of it_.”

“So you’re saying you got together _before_ Alya and I forced you to work together on that history assignment?” Nino asks.

“Yeah.” Adrien takes Alya’s usual seat. “You told me to ask Marinette out, so I did.”

There’s a beat of silence.

“Are you saying Plan A worked?” Max says slowly.

“Plan A?” Marinette asks.

“Plan A,” Alya says in a dead voice. “Tell them to just ask each other out already.”

“Then yes.”

“Fuck,” Alix mutters.

“So, did you _know_?” Mylène asks. “Like when we were trying to get you two together?”

“Probably not _always_ ,” Adrien says. He scoots over on the bench to make room for Marinette. “But you weren’t always exactly subtle. _Alix_.”

She shrugs. “If you were already together, then what was the point of subtlety?”

“Sometimes we realized later,” Marinette adds. “It definitely made for some memorable moments.”

“All that work was for nothing,” Nathanael says. “Shit.”

“It was fun,” Ivan argues.

“Class bonding?” Rose offers.

“Fuck that,” Chloé grumbles. “Let me leave the goddamn group chat now.”

Marinette’s eyebrows shoot up. “You have a group chat for this?”

“It’s a mess and I hate it.”

Nino eyes Marinette and Adrien warily. “How did you hide this from us is my question?”

Marinette turns pink. “It actually wasn’t _that_ hard—”

“You’re the two biggest romantics we know other than Rose,” Alya interrupts. “There’s no _way_ —”

“Are you saying we’re _not_ dating?” Adrien teases. His arm is resting on the back of the bench, his fingers playing with Marinette’s hair.

“I’m not saying that,” Alya says defensively. “But how did you keep back all the gooey romantic stuff?”

Marinette rolls her eyes. “You say that like Adrien actually tried.”

“I _did_ ,” he protests.

“Sure, kitten.” She bops him on the nose. “We can pretend.”

Alya squints at them. “Are you _sure_?”

“You could’ve just asked my parents,” Marinette says with a smile. “They’ve known almost the whole time.”

“…why didn’t we do that?” Nino asks.

“I feel like I was just thrown headfirst into a cliche romantic comedy,” Chloé mutters.

Adrien leans forward to read the screen of Alya’s laptop. “Is that a list of plans to get us together?”

“I’m going to burn it,” Alya says flatly.

The rest of the classmates murmur in agreement.

“You two better be worth it,” Alix says.

Adrien smiles at Marinette like she’s hung the stars in the sky. Marinette returns the look and presses a kiss to his nose.

They’re definitely worth it.

“Can I see that?” Adrien asks. “I kind of want to know what you actually did.”

Marinette hums in agreement. “I want to see how much time and effort you put into this.”

“Too much,” Nathanael, Juleka, and Chloé say.

Nino hands Adrien the laptop. “Enjoy our suffering.”


	23. plan bb: backtracking

**Plan A: Tell Them to Just Ask Each Other Out Already**

Adrien stares at her as the light fades.

No way. 

Nino has been bugging him to ask her out for weeks. He might as well just go for it, especially now. He rubs the back of his neck. “So um…Marinette?”

She bites her lip and looks away. Her kwami peaks over her shoulder at him.

“Do you…maybe want to go out for coffee sometime?”

Marinette looks up in surprise. “Really?”

He nods. “Yeah.”

She smiles hesitantly. “I’d love to.”

—«·»—

Marinette doesn’t bother telling Alya about the first date. She’d probably ask how Adrien asked her out and Marinette currently doesn’t have a good story. She also doesn’t know if she can count the first date as an actual date.

She doesn’t tell Alya about the second or third either.

When Adrien asks if they’re dating and Marinette says yes, she’s thinking a million other things. But telling Alya is not one of them.

Mostly, she’s thinking about how she can’t believe she’s actually _dating_ Adrien Agreste.

“Two weeks,” Adrien says, snapping his fingers.

“Two weeks!” Marinette shakes her head. “What planet do you live on?”

“The same one as the most gorgeous girl in the universe.” He rests his chin on his hand and smiles lazily at her.

“Uh…” Marinette looks away and brushes her bangs out of her eyes.

“And she’s even more gorgeous when she blushes,” Adrien muses.

She ducks her head and swats at him. “Stop that!”

“Maybe I don’t want to,” he teases, leaning forward to press a kiss to her forehead.

Marinette squeaks in surprise.

“You’re right,” Adrien says. “Alya and Nino will totally realize we’re dating in less than two weeks. Look at how red — and cute — you are.”

“Oh so you’re saying they’re going to find out because of me?” She raises her eyebrows.

“Almost definitely.” Adrien sits back with a smirk.

Marinette crosses her arms. “Wanna bet?”

* * *

**Plan B: Buckle Up It’s Group Project Time**

Adrien lays across Marinette’s legs as he flips through the textbook. She hums as she scrolls through articles on her phone, running her fingers through his hair.

She sighs and puts down her phone. “This article is pointless.”

He puts his head down on his textbook. “A lot of this feels pointless. I need a cat nap.”

Marinette clicks her tongue. “If you take a cat nap now, you’ll never get to sleep tonight.”

“Who needs a normal sleep schedule?” Adrien asks. “Certainly not me.”

She’s about to chastise him — which is incredibly hypocritical considering her own sleep schedule — when her phone starts ringing.

Adrien raises his eyebrows.

“Alya.” She answers the call. “Hello?”

“ _Hey, girl!_ ” Alya whispers. “ _What’s up?_ ”

“Just finished working on the project,” Marinette says.

‘We’re done?’ Adrien mouths.

Marinette nods. ‘I am,’ she mouths back.

Adrien gives her a thumbs up and rolls off her legs. He sits up and straightens his shirt. Reaching for his phone. He frowns at the screen and starts typing rapidly.

“Are you in the library?” Marinette asks.

“ _Mhm. Just checking in._ ”

She frowns. “Why?”

“ _I was just wondering if anything, you know,_ happened.”

“…happened?”

“ _You know_ ,” Alya drawls.

Marinette rolls her eyes. “Nothing happened, Al.”

“ _What do you mean_ nothing happened _?_ ”

“Alya, I know why you did it,” Marinette would’ve had to be completely oblivious not to, “but nothing happened. We worked on the project. We ate some snacks. Adrien left.”

Adrien looks up from his phone. He gives Marinette a crooked smile.

Marinette hears Alya talking to Nino. “ _Nothing_ fun,” Alya says pointedly.

“Hey!” Marinette protests. “We had fun. Sort of. I don’t know the project is boring and I was too tired to research well but I did find out that Adrien knows some Cantonese.”

She argues with Alya for another few minutes before hanging up. “Alya,” she grumbles, laying down on the floor.

Adrien joins her. “I’m guessing you got asked the same questions Nino asked me?”

“Yup.” She pops the ‘p’. “I just want to watch movies and sleep. This project is no fun.”

“Why am I not allowed to sleep but you are?” he teases.

Marinette glares at him.

“Movies and cuddling?”

“Yes please.”

* * *

**Plan C: Closet Time (aka Seven Minutes of Hell and Awkward Sexual Tension)**

Adrien stares at the door. He tries to turn the knob and shakes it, yanking back on the door.

Marinette sinks to the ground. “When do you think she’ll be back?”

“I think we’ve got a while.” Adrien sits down next to her.

“Oh good. I’ll be even more fucked for rotational motion.”

“Good thing your boyfriend is good a physics,” he says with a wink.

She raises an eyebrow at him. “Your ‘help’ is more kissing than anything else.”

“Is that a bad thing?” he asks.

“Mmm…could probably be worse.”

Adrien hums and kisses her softly.

Marinette laughs. “I can’t believe Adrien Agreste is skipping class to make out with his girlfriend.”

He sticks his tongue out at her. “It’s less skipping and more I am literally unable to go. On a scale of one to ten, how badly are you going to murder Alya.”

“Oh definitely a twenty.” Marinette wraps her arms around Adrien’s neck. “I’ll enjoy this while I can and then plan her death later though.”

“That works for me.”

* * *

**Plan D: Double Date but Not Really**

“What did Nino have to say?” Marinette asks.

Adrien slides his phone into his pocket. “He’s ‘sick’.”

“Oh. Of course.”

“Do you think Alya’s going to show up?” he asks after a moment.

Marinette laughs. “Hell no.”

Adrien smiles. “That works for me.” He offers Marinette his hand and wiggles his fingers. “Want to go on a date?”

“I’d love to.”

* * *

 

**Plan E: EscarGO OUT ALREADY**

Marinette makes a face. “Please don’t tell me we’re eating escargot tonight. I’m not exactly in the mood.”

Adrien snorts and looks up to the school. “If Alix started predicting our dates, that’d definitely be something.”

“Oh god.”

* * *

**Plan F: Fucking Just Shove Them Together**

Marinette groans. 

“You okay?” Adrien asks, sitting up.

She rubs her elbow. “I’m fine. You?”

“A little bruised, but I’ve had worse.”

She scoffs. Compared to getting flung across Paris, getting shoved to the ground certainly was nothing.

“Not their best attempt,” Adrien says as he helps Marinette to her feet.

* * *

**Plan G: Group Project 2.0**

“Alya and Nino are pretty quiet,” Adrien notes.

“You aren’t wrong,” Marinette says. She puts down her controller to text Alya.

It’s almost an hour before she gets a response, and it’s not even from Alya.

“Hey!” she says, putting the phone on speaker.

Adrien turns the music off on her computer.

“ _What’s up? How’s the project going_?” Nino asks.

Adrien groans and Marinette holds back a laugh.

—«·»—

“Alright,” Adrien says a few hours later. “I give up. You win. I’ll never beat you at this game.”

Marinette smiles victoriously. “Thank you. My reward?”

“A kiss?” Adrien offers.

She scoffs. “Too easy.”

“I’ll think of something. Can I still get a kiss.”

“Did you really have to ask, kitten?”

* * *

**Plan H: Hello From the Other Side (of the World)**

“I’m really sorry no one else could talk to you,” Marinette apologises.

“ _It’s fine_ ,” Adrien promises. “ _I’m tired, I’m glad of all of them I can talk to you. No secrets to hide and all that._ ”

She rests her chin in her chin and smiles at him. “How’s the shoot?”

“ _It’s long_ ,” he murmurs. “ _It’s so long. I’m—_ ” He drags his hand down his face. “ _I’m very tired_.”

“ _He’s a mess_ ,” Plagg says, floating into view of the webcam. “ _It’s boring_.”

“Hi, Plagg. Is the cheese good enough?”

“ _No_.”

Adrien rolls his eyes. “ _The cheese is_ fine _. The timezones are screwing with me though._ ”

“Mmm. I won’t keep you too long, it’s pretty late there.”

“ _How’s Paris without me?_ ”

“We’ve gotten lucky,” Marinette admits. “No akumas yet.”

“ _Fingers crossed. Now that the business stuff is out of the way, tell me everything._ ”

Marinette smiles. “Everything?”

Adrien nods. “ _Absolutely everything._ ”

* * *

**Plan I: Illness**

“Did they already do this?” Adrien asks when Alya and Nino cancel at the last minute.

“I don’t think this is nearly as intentional,” Marinette admits. “Do you still want to go out?”

Adrien thinks about it. “I kind of want to stay in and eat junk food tonight. You?”

She nods. “That sounds great, actually. Let’s do that.”

* * *

**Plan J: Just Do It (and Other Motivational Memes)**

“So,” Chat says, leaning on his baton. “Alix attacked me with memes today.”

Ladybug furrows her eyebrows. “Excuse me?”

“She attacked me with memes,” he repeats.

“…how?”

“She had a speaker. And blasted just do it at me.”

Ladybug snorts.

“This isn’t funny,” Chat says flatly.

She giggles. “It’s a little—”

“Wow. _Wow_ . I was _attacked_ —”

“You’re such a nerd,” she interrupts.

“I hope you get attacked with memes,” he says bitterly. “She told me to ask you out.”

“Bad advice.”

“Actually the worst. I’m breaking up with you.”

* * *

**Plan K: Kim Really Sucks at This**

Adrien meets Marinette’s eyes across the room. She rolls her eyes and ducks out from under Kim’s arm.

—«·»—

“Was he trying to make me jealous?” Adrien asks her.

“I have no idea what the hell he was trying to do,” Marinette says. “It was weird for both of us.”

He shakes his head. “It was weird for all of us.”

* * *

**Plan L: Lila, The Unexpected**

“What was that?” Adrien asks as Marinette drags him away from the school with a fake smile plastered on her face.

“Chloé,” she starts.

“I thought you and Chloé were getting along?”

She gives him a look. “Chloé said that Lila was trash talking you. And that was me doing something about it.”

“I can handle Lila,” Adrien says.

Marinette sighs and squeezes his hand. “Yeah, but it’s my fault she hates you so…”

He tilts her chin up. “It’ll be fine, bug” he promises. He presses a quick kiss to her lips. “Lila will be Lila and if she doesn’t want to like me, then she’s not going to like me. There’s nothing I can do about it.”

“You’re too nice,” Marinette grumbles.

Adrien shakes his head. “I have more important things to think about. Like my girlfriend, who I love very much.”

She sighs. “Okay. Fine.” She rises up on her toes and kisses him. “I’ll stop worrying about it so much.”

He smiles down at her. “Thank you. I appreciate you and Chloé having my back.”  

“I’ll always have your back.”

“I know.” He swings their hands. “Do you want to go back to mine and nap?”

“ _Absolutely_.”

* * *

  **Plan M: Marry Mari**

Adrien wonders if it was a dream. He isn’t sure if Nino would _actually_ tell him to marry Marinette, would he? Not that Adrien _doesn’t_ want to marry Marinette—

He really shouldn’t be thinking about this.

Besides, anything can be said at three in the morning.

* * *

**Plans N, O, P, Q, R, and T: When You Try Your Best but Fail Miserably**

Honestly, Marinette doesn’t want to talk about those plans either.

* * *

**Plan U: Unbelievable**

“Hey, Max told me to ask you out the other day,” Chat says. He stops playing with Ladybug’s hair for a moment. “Do you want to go out for lunch tomorrow?”

Ladybug opens her eyes. “Yeah, sure. That cute little café we found the other day?”

“That sounds good to me.”

“Rose and Juleka asked if I’ve ever thought about asking you out,” she murmurs after a moment.

“What’d you say?”

“I said I’d think about it.” She closes her eyes again. “I’ve thought about it. Extra patrol after your shoot on Friday?”

“Actual patrol or sitting patrol?”

“Sitting.”

“I’d love to.”

* * *

  **Plan V: Victory is Fleeting**

Marinette hunches her shoulders and hugs her arms around herself. She stands as far away from Adrien as her balcony will allow her to and resists the urge to transform and run away.

She knows Adrien isn’t looking at her because she would be able to feel his eyes on her back.

“I—” He cuts himself off.

She glances over her shoulder to see him staring out over the city. _Their_ city. They’re supposed to protect it but that doesn’t mean— 

Marinette swallows a sob and tries to blink back her tears.

“I’m sorry,” Adrien says softly. “I wasn’t thinking and I just—”

Marinette whirls around to face him. “Almost _died_?!”

Adrien sinks in on himself. “I…”

They look down as Alya peaks up through the trapdoor. “Good?” she asks.

They both look away.

Alya puts down two plates. “I’ll leave you be,” she murmurs and ducks back inside.

Marinette looks at the plates for a long moment. She sighs and bends down, picking them up. Adrien hesitates for a second before moving the teacups and teapot over to make room for the plates. Marinette puts them down on the table and realizes how close together her and Adrien are standing.

She doesn’t hate him. She could never hate him. She’s just terrified of losing him.

“I’m sorry,” he says again. “I’m sorry and I should’ve done literally anything else instead of—”

Marinette steps around the table and pulls Adrien into a tight hug. His arms are around her almost immediately and she buries her face into his coat and stops trying to hold the tears back.

“Don’t leave me,” she whispers.

Adrien hugs her tighter. “I never want to.”

—«·»—

On the way back to school, their hands brush together. Adrien feels Marinette tense beside him before she brushes their fingers together again. He takes her hand and squeezes it tight, in an attempt to tell her that he’s right here and he will always be right here.

* * *

**Plan W: Wrong Number**

Adrien frowns at the text messages.

 **From: 260 bpm  
** **To: not apollo  
**      ok so this has been bugging me for a while right?  
     and i dont want to like intrude or anything  
     but im curious you know  
     cause like you havent said anything and i feel like you would?  
     i mean  
     ok fine  
     ill just straight up ask you  
     just be honest with me here  
     because i think i can tell but i could be wrong  
     do you like mari?  
     like would you go out on a date with her

He thinks about his response for a few minutes before sending it.

 **From: not apollo  
** **To: 260 bpm  
**      Why do you want to know?

He gets a response almost immediately.

 **From: 260 bpm  
** **To: not apollo  
**      ???  
     What do I want to know?

Adrien blinks in surprise.

 **From: 260 bpm  
** **To: not apollo  
**      Wait  
     I didnt send those messages

 **From: not apollo  
** **To: 260 bpm  
     ** I take it you’re not Nino then?

 **From: 260 bpm  
** **To: not apollo  
**      Sheesh  
     I know you love Nino  
     But wow kitty

He rolls his eyes and calls her. “Someone switched my contact names,” he says with she picks up.

Marinette snorts. “ _They’re back at it again, apparently. Not even subtle._ ”

“Not at _all_.”

“ _Are you going to tell them you noticed?_ ”

“Hell no, it’s way more fun to let them keep doing it.”

“ _You’re evil._ ”

“You love me.”

“ _Unfortunately._ ” He can hear the smile in her voice and it makes him irrationally happy. “ _See you at patrol tonight?_ ”

“Of course.”

“ _Best of luck fixing this little mix up._ ”

“Thanks.”

Adrien sends Nino the most oblivious text message he can muster. He wishes he were there to see Alya’s face.

* * *

**Plan Y: Y Are We Still Doing This**

When Alya is asleep, Marinette sends a text to Adrien.

 **From: Mari’s Gold  
** **To: Actual Model  
**      Alya offered to lock us in a closet again

 **From: Actual Model  
** **To: Mari’s Gold  
**      I’d be ok with being locked in a closet with you for a few hours  
     ;)

Marinette is suddenly incredibly glad Alya isn’t awake to see the color of her face.

 **From: Mari’s Gold  
** **To: Actual Model  
     ** Why am I dating you again???

 **From: Actual Model  
** **To: Mari’s Gold  
     ** I’m a good kisser

 **From: Mari’s Gold  
** **To: Actual Model  
     ** Youre not wrong

 **From: Actual Model  
** **To: Mari’s Gold  
     ** Thanks for the warning. I’ll keep an eye out for any suspicious looking closets

 **From: Mari’s Gold  
** **To: Actual Model  
     ** :P

 **From: Actual Model  
** **To: Mari’s Gold  
    **  I’m gonna head to bed  
     You should too

 **From: Mari’s Gold  
** **To: Actual Model  
     ** Mmm youre probably right

 **From: Actual Model  
** **To: Mari’s Gold  
**      You know I am  
     Night xo

 **From: Mari’s Gold  
** **To: Actual Model  
     ** Night <3

* * *

  **Plan Z: Zebras and Zoo Dates**

“They’ve been gone for an awfully long time, haven’t they?” Marinette muses.

“Why do they keep coming back to this one?” Adrien asks.

“I don’t know, but Chloé just paid for a date so I say we embrace it.”

Adrien laughs. “That works for me. Want to go look at zebras?”

“You just want to convince me that they’re actually black with white stripes,” she says.

“Absolutely.”

Marinette shakes her head. “I refuse to believe you.”

Adrien tugs her in the direction of the zebras. “I can’t believe you don’t believe.”

* * *

**Plan AA: Anonymous Letters**

“I got a letter today,” Chat says as he drops down onto Marinette’s bed.

“Did you?” she asks. “Strange. I got one too.” She holds up the folded paper.

“I wonder who it could be from.”

“I have no idea.”

—«·»—

“I didn’t get a letter today,” Marinette says, dumping her bag by Adrien’s bed. “I’m actually kind of disappointed.”

“I think they’re done with them.” Adrien puts a plate of cheese and cookies down on his desk. Plagg zips out of his pocket and snatches up a piece of cheese.

“Do you think they’ve finally given up?” Marinette asks as she opens her purse. Tikki floats over to the desk and settles down with a cookie.

Adrien laughs. “Hell no. Alya’s never giving up on this.” He wraps his arm around Marinette’s waist and pulls her close. “She’s going to kill us when she finds out we’ve been dating for, what? Almost four months now?”

“Oh yeah.” Marinette tilts her head up to kiss Adrien softly. “We’re so dead.”

“Should we flee the country?”

“That seems like our best option,” she murmurs.

“Where do you want to go?”

“I’d love to see the whole world with you.”

“It’s a date then.”

* * *

**Plan BB: ???**

“We aren’t dead,” Adrien says, surprised.

Marinette looks up from her sketchbook. “We were supposed to die?”

“I was sure Alya was going to murder us.” He rests his chin on Marinette’s shoulder. “I’m surprised she didn’t.”

“She’ll get around to it,” Marinette assures him, reaching up to run her fingers through his hair. “Does that mean exploring the world together is off the table?”

“Never,” Adrien says sincerely. He moves so he can look Marinette in the eyes, soaking in the sparkling blue. He can’t explain to her how much she means to him. “I want to explore the entire universe with you.”

“I want to explore it with you too,” she says with a smile. She leans forward and kisses him slowly and he melts under her touch.

Adrien keeps his eyes closed for a moment after she pulls away. When he opens them, she offers him her fist. He bumps it with his own.

“There’s no one else I’d rather explore it with.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hope you enjoyed!!! i did use one of my old drabbles in part of this chapter, so if you recognized the bit about two weeks, that'd be why~
> 
> this was my first time _really_ writing a lot of the classmates, and it was a fun experience. hopefully i get better with time! ^^


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